State environmental officials issued a critical permit today that will serve as a model for the safe closure of all coal ash ponds throughout the state. North Carolina is protecting its environment with the most stringent permit in nation.

After more than a year of delays, state officials finally received approval from the federal government to issue the permit, which provides for the safe removal of water from coal ash ponds in preparation for closure. Dewatering of ash ponds is done under strict monitoring by state environmental officials and is an essential step in removing the threat coal ash presents to the environment and public health.

North Carolina's coal ash law requires that impoundments at Duke Energy’s Sutton, Asheville, Riverbend and Dan River facilities be permanently closed by Aug. 1, 2019. The remaining 10 sites will be prioritized for closure based on the level of risk they present to the environment and public health, with all coal ash ponds and discharges from those ponds eliminated no later than 2029.

Yesterday, DEQ Assistant Secretary for the Environment Tom Reeder addressed the State Legislature’s Environmental Review Commission to update legislators on the status of coal ash cleanup in North Carolina. Waiting for the federal government to approve permits has greatly slowed the state’s ability to clean up coal ash.

For more than a year, DEQ has continued to seek federal approval for conditions of the state’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits. The NPDES permits are necessary for Duke Energy to begin excavating coal ash ponds.

DEQ is committed to upholding the Clean Water Act and will only issue permits consistent with the law. When given a permit to review, the EPA may offer comments, object to or remain silent on the permit. DEQ may issue a permit if EPA does not object. As a courtesy, in recent years DEQ has waited for explicit EPA approval before issuing coal ash permits despite it not being required by law. Assistant Secretary Reeder noted in his presentation that DEQ is considering no longer providing that courtesy.

The EPA is struggling with how to handle these types of permits because they are the first of their kind in the nation, which has caused long delays in the permitting process. If DEQ is faced with a choice between protecting the environment or the federal bureaucracy, protecting the environment will win every time.

Today, DEQ Assistant Secretary for the Environment Tom Reeder addressed the State Legislature’s Environmental Review Commission to update legislators on the status of coal ash cleanup in North Carolina.

The presentation included overviews of ongoing dry ash excavation operations; beneficial use of coal ash rulemaking; groundwater comprehensive site assessments and corrective action plans; survey of private and public water supply wells; decanting/dewatering, seeps, and permitting; enforcement activities; and draft classifications.

Excavation of coal ash began just eight months after the coal ash law was enacted and is now underway at five Duke Energy facilities including: Riverbend, Dan River, Sutton, Asheville, and Roger’s (Cliffside). To date, more than 4.3 million tons of coal ash has been excavated and removed to safe storage or beneficial reuse projects.

In accordance with the coal ash law, DEQ tested all private and public water supply wells within 1,500 of each coal ash impoundment for coal ash constituents. Out of the 476 wells sampled, 424 well owners (89%) received a “do not drink” health risk evaluation from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). Out of the 424 DHHS “do not drink” recommendations, 369 (87%) were due to vanadium and/or hexavalent chromium. Out of all the water supply wells sampled, only 12 wells exceeded the federal Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) levels, which are the levels used by the federal government to regulate of all city water supplies in the U.S. Of the 12 wells that contained SDWA exceedances, seven were for lead and five for arsenic. Typically, lead exceedances are due to poor well construction. Arsenic exceedances could be naturally occurring or an indicator of coal ash contamination; a final determination has not been made in these instances.

Assistant Secretary Reeder also provided an overview of DHHS’s hexavalent chromium and vanadium health screening levels. While both contaminants can be naturally occurring in North Carolina groundwater, DHHS uses levels of .07 parts per billion (ppb) for hexavalent chromium and 0.3 ppb for vanadium for its “do not drink” recommendations. In comparison, California and North Carolina share the lowest groundwater standard for hexavalent chromium in the country at 10 ppb. Only 8 states in the U.S. have groundwater standards for vanadium, and the federal government does not require city water supplies to monitor for vanadium.

More than 70% of public water systems in the United States that have sampled for hexavalent chromium and vanadium would exceed the DHHS screening levels. Assistant Secretary Reeder emphasized the well water that received “do not drink” recommendations from DHHS is likely to contain similar levels of hexavalent chromium and vanadium as most North Carolina city water.

The presentation also included an overview of decanting and dewatering activities, as well as a summary of the draft coal ash impoundment classification process. New information submitted to DEQ by Duke Energy has resulted in the addition of a small coal ash impoundment at the Roxboro facility in Person County, which increases the total number of coal ash impoundments in North Carolina to 33.

The presentation detailed the various enforcement activities DEQ has pursued in the wake of the 2014 spill at Dan River. DEQ issued Notice of Violations (NOVs) to Duke Energy for groundwater exceedences at two of its facilities and later assessed a $25.1 million fine, which Duke Energy immediately challenged in court. Assistant Secretary Reeder pointed out a memo enacted by the Perdue Administration that was the linchpin of Duke Energy’s case. Contextual e-mails made it clear that the intent of memo was to absolve Duke from NOVs and civil penalties associated with groundwater contamination at its coal ash facilities as long as the utility agreed to eventually remediate the problem. The 2011 memo was the reason the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office told DEQ it had no choice but to settle. Duke Energy settled the case for $7 million plus accelerated remediation at four of its coal ash facilities.

In the coming months, DEQ expects to receive from Duke Energy all the information it needs to make final determinations on when each coal ash impoundment should be closed. DEQ will finalize its proposed classificiations upon conclusion of the robust public participation process during which the agency will hold 14 public meetings and receive written comments.

DEQ is also waiting on additional groundwater data from Duke Energy to determine whether its coal ash ponds are impacting any nearby public or private drinking water supplies. If DEQ determines that groundwater standards in a well have been exceeded and that a coal ash pond is the source of that exceedance, Duke Energy will be required to provide the residents with an alternative water supply.

You may view the PowerPoint presentation here. You may watch a video of Reeder’s full presentation here.

RALEIGH - The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality, or DEQ, on Friday announced 14 public meetings on the department’s draft proposed classifications for each of Duke Energy coal ash impoundments in North Carolina. The hearings give the public an opportunity to learn about the draft classifications and provide feedback to the agency.

“The public meetings are a great opportunity for the public to get involved in the classification process,” said DEQ Assistant Secretary Tom Reeder. “DEQ is committed to relying on science and public comment to determine closure deadlines. We welcome feedback from the communities impacted by Duke Energy’s coal ash ponds and hope that the public participation process produces additional scientific and technical data that can help inform our final determinations.”

In accordance with the coal ash law, DEQ developed a draft proposed classification for every coal ash pond in the state. The classification process is an important step in cleaning up coal ash to protect the environment and ratepayers, and will determine the deadline for when each impoundment must be closed.

A public meeting will be held in each county with a coal ash facility. At each meeting, DEQ will explain the draft proposed classifications and receive comments from the public.

Today, DEQ released its draft proposed classifications for Duke Energy’s 32 coal ash impoundments in North Carolina. This is in keeping with the Dec. 31 deadline set up by the Coal Ash Management Act (CAMA). The draft classifications are based on months of scientific review by DEQ staff of scientific and technical information about each impoundment. Each draft classification is based upon the impoundment’s potential risk to the environment and public health. Factors taken into consideration when developing the classifications include impacts to surface water, dam safety and impacts to groundwater.

DEQ is dedicated to upholding the coal ash law and making decisions that are based only off of science and public comment. In February and March, DEQ will hold a public meeting in each county with a coal ash facility to receive comments on the draft proposed classifications.

The draft classifications released today are not final. Within 30 days, DEQ must release written details of the evaluation of each impoundment to support these draft proposed classifications. DEQ will release its final proposed draft classifications after it reviews and considers public comment.

To read the Executive Summary of the Draft Proposed Impoundment Classifications, clickhere.

North Carolina filed its response on Tuesday to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM) request for information on the State of the Offshore Renewable Energy Industry. Jenny Kelvington, Executive Director for Energy at DEQ, expressed North Carolina’s support for responsible development of our state’s abundant offshore wind resources. Kelvington also encouraged BOEM to establish an appropriate buffer that protects the environment and the view from our coastal communities, and asked that the Bureau support seismic surveying that will support informed decision-making about offshore wind energy development. You can read the letter here.

State environmental officials today asked Duke Energy to provide information missing from its Corrective Action Plans (CAPs) by Dec. 14. The Coal Ash Management Act, or CAMA, requires DEQ to develop proposed classifications for all coal ash impoundments by Dec. 31. DEQ needs information contained in the CAPS, including data on the extent of groundwater contamination and its impact on private and public water supplies, to make informed decisions on how to classify each impoundment as low, intermediate or high-risk.

Duke Energy to date has submitted Comprehensive Site Assessments (CSAs) for all 14 coal ash facilities and 12 of 14 CAPs. State officials identified data gaps and deficiencies within the reports that could constrain DEQ’s efforts to implement the legislation. DEQ notified Duke of the deficiencies in its reports in the Impoundments Remediation Status Overview sent to the utility on Nov. 17.

Since CAMA became state law, DEQ staff has conducted weekly conference calls with the utility in an effort to adhere to the deadlines established by CAMA and identify and correct any deficiencies. In addition, after the CSAs were submitted, staff from DEQ’s Division of Water Resources held meetings with the utility at DEQ’s regional offices to review the CSAs and identify areas of incompleteness.

The area of greatest concern is the lack of groundwater data. The relationship of potential coal ash constituents detected in private and public water supply wells with respect to the coal ash impoundments has not been adequately evaluated at facilities where there are nearby receptor wells.

The information DEQ has requested is required to be included in the CAPs under CAMA.

You may view a copy of the Impoundments Remediation Status Overview here.

The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality announced today that six of the 14 required corrective action plans, or CAPs, for Duke Energy’s coal ash facilities have been posted to DEQ’s website. Under the Coal Ash Management Act (CAMA), Duke Energy is required submit the CAPs within 90 days of submitting comprehensive site assessments, or CSAs, of the facilities. The site assessments for all 14 of the coal ash sites were submitted by Duke Energy and posted to DEQ’s website in September. They will be used by DEQ to make science-based decisions about how to prioritize the closure of all coal ash impoundments in North Carolina.

Duke Energy is submitting the CAPs in two parts. In accordance with CAMA, DEQ has required part one to be submitted no later than 90 days after the CSA was received, and must include background information; a brief summary of the CSA findings; a brief description of site geology and hydrogeology; a summary of the previously completed receptor survey; a description of 2L and 2B exceedances; proposed site-specific groundwater background concentrations; a detailed description of the site conceptual model; and groundwater flow and transport modeling.

The utility has up to 180 days after the respective CSA was received to submit part two which will contain additional restoration planning; an implementation schedule; and monitoring and reporting information.

Part one of the eight reports that have not yet been submitted are due to DEQ by Dec. 8 and part two of all reports are due by March 2016. The reports will be posted as they are received at the link below:

State environmental officials delivered yesterday to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) an amended permit to allow for additional coal ash clean up at Duke Energy facilities. For more than one year, the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has continued to seek federal approvals for conditions of the state’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting. The protracted process has delayed the state’s ability to clean up coal ash across North Carolina.

The Division of Water Resources submitted its fifth permit revision for the Riverbend facility for federal review. Pursuant to DEQ and EPA’s 2007 memorandum of agreement, the EPA will within fifteen days notify the state that it has objections to the permit or that it is extending its review time to ninety (90) days. You may view the documents by clicking the links below:

Raleigh - The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) last week mailed a follow up letter to residents who have had their water supply wells tested near Duke Energy’s coal-fired electricity generating facilities.

The letter is an effort to answer questions that have been recieved since well water testing began, and provides updated information on recent sampling efforts.

Recipients are asked to contact DHHS with any questions at 919-707-5900.